The Choice
by phantom-jedi1
Summary: Vignettes from Return of the Jedi.
1. Chapter 1

It all comes down to this, in the end. Nothing else matters; not the fierce battle raging around an artificial moon, not the efforts of those on the real moon below, not the endless activity of the universe at large. This one tableau of raging conflict that cannot be seen is all that matters. Darkness and Light swirl around one figure, both sides of the Force seeming to concentrate on this one person and the choice that faces him. _Serve or save?_

The darkness whispers of oaths sworn long ago, oaths that bind him to the craven figure beside him. _You cannot go back: you swore yourself to him and to the darkness._ Oaths that were sealed in the blood of children and deepened through further suffering inflicted by his hand drag him down now. The darkness reminds him of everything he has done; the horrors, the atrocities, the one unforgivable act. The pain sears through him again, remembering the day he turned, destroying the one he loved with all his heart. _You can never be forgiven for that, never know love again... _

But the light calls to him, reminding him of his purpose, reminding him who lay in torment a scant distance from his feet. _You are loved: you are forgiven _the light softly promises. _Your bonds can be broken. You were pledged to the light first._ Memories of love and joy fill him, beckoning.

Sudden purity floods his mind, driving away the tendrils of broken darkness.

The all-important choice lies before him, the galaxy hanging on his decision. _Serve or save?_

In the end, there is no choice at all. In the end, he can do nothing more than what he was destined to do.

_In the end, he chooses love._


	2. Chapter 2

The choice was made. There could be no turning back. Even as lightning flares to life around him, even as the wracking pain possesses him once more, it does not matter. He hardly notices it. All his will and being focus on one, final, fatal act.

He staggers once, nearly falls, before his destiny mixed with love forces him on. An iron will once bent to evil now narrows to a single thought, a single breath. _Destroy the darkness…_

The task for which he was born is completed: the darkness has been destroyed, evil defeated for another day, a long-lost balance renewed. But the cost is high. His body labors, barely functioning, barely alive. Yet he refuses to join with the Force. There is one thing he must still do before he can join those he loves.

He must see the face of the one who pulled him from the darkness, causing him to make the fatal choice. The face of his savior, so like his own.

_He must see the face of his son._


	3. Chapter 3

Fear grips him for a moment. Though death draws near, that is not the source of the cold feeling that washes through him. As the mask leaves his face, panic sets in for a brief moment. _What if…_ But thought never reaches conclusion, as the loving eyes of his son look down upon him. He tries to smile back, tries to dismiss his appearance. The boy before him does not care: he sees not a face ravaged by time and fire and pain…but the face of his father, whom he loves and has been redeemed.

His heart knows this and joy fills him. The Force verifies his hope, even as it draws him nearer and nearer to that other side. As the darkness descends upon him gently, his final whisper resonates throughout the universe.

_You were right…_

_l_

_l_

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**A/N: Reviews would be appreciated, as I have no standard against which to measure the effects of my writing, save what you, gentle reader, can tell me.**


	4. Chapter 4

The darkness slowly lifts. He looks around, confusion evident in his wondering glance. Soft light replaces the hellish darkness, illuminating an all too familiar figure. He is amazed, yet sorrowed, to see his old master standing before him. For a moment, his guilt and shame threaten to overwhelm him, to send him back into the darkness from whence he had so lately come. Tentatively, he reaches out to the Force, expecting harsh rejection, the ultimate payment for his crimes that he believes he truly deserves. But the Force is awash with the forgiveness and the love of the person before him. His wearied heart lifts, an unrealized, unnoticed burden falling away.

He sees others from his past, those who had joined the Force before him. As he scans the heartbreakingly familiar faces, he finds himself both longing and dreading finding one particular face, the face of the one he has wronged the most grievously. Without warning, the small group surrounding him parts. He looks up… and pain sears his aching heart, driving him to his knees. Memories crash down on him once more, the twenty-odd years separating him from the hideous events now assaulting his mind doing nothing to ease his pain. He had spent a lifetime hating himself for the single action he regretted above all, an action he believed unforgivable…a soul-tearing grief that could not be easily assuaged. For a moment, the darkness whispers again _you can never be forgiven for what you did to her..._

A gentle hand brushes his shoulder. Lost in his grief and guilt, he doesn't feel it until a firm but loving touch forces him to meet a pair of tear-bright eyes. The bonds that have constricted his broken heart for so long break under her loving, forgiving gaze. A half-forgotten sensation floods him… _is this what pure, unadulterated joy feels like_? he wonders as his wife takes his hand and raises him up to stand tall once more.

A moment, an age, an eon passes, time without meaning here. With the help of his master, he parts the gossamer veil separating the realm of the Force from the world of the living. With a smile, he sees his son, the son who redeemed him in the end. Mirror images, father and son, they share one, ephemeral moment before his daughter tugs his son away, back to their friends and the warmth of the gentle fire. A last loving look; he turns back to his wife, allowing the veil to close once more. Walking hand in hand, they finish their long journey to a place unimaginable, _together_.

The universe silently rejoices in its newfound balance, the regime of terror and darkness it has suffered under for so long replaced by the light of love.

_Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars._


End file.
